The attack took place around Rukwanzi Island, in western Uganda, where Congolese forces had arrested four Ugandan soldiers last weekend, accusing them of crossing into their territory.

“Congolese soldiers crossed into Uganda and attacked the boat between 1am and 3am [on Friday],” an army spokesperson was quoted by news service AllAfrica.com as saying.

The attack on Tullow and Heritage’s barge prompted a fire exchange involving private guards and Ugandan troops.

One Congolese soldier was reportedly killed and another injured.

According to an AllAfrica.com report this morning, Tullow Oil and Heritage Oil plan to resume their operations in the country in the next few days.

The skirmish is likely to sour relations again between Uganda and the Congo.

Uganda invaded the Congo in 1998, to take on the rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces.

Instead they took part in a five-year civil war, killing an estimated two million Congolese and impairing relations between the two neighbours.

Those relations had improved over the past three years.